Dezeen Magazine

Love & Robots' Windswept jewellery captures the movement of air into metal

Irish studio Love & Robots has designed jewellery that allows the movement of air in any given city, on any given day, to be preserved in 3D-printed precious metal.

The Windswept jewellery mimics the folds of cloth being ruffled by the breeze, but then frozen in time.

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

Customers are able to create a bespoke design through the company's online store by choosing any location in the world, and then specifying a date in the last 50 years.

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

Based on historical weather data in this chosen moment, the online modelling tool begins distorting a 3D image of a scrap of cloth as though it's a sheet blowing in the wind.

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

Users press pause to set the cloth in position. After this, a computer-generated model is created according to their unique specifications and sent to a 3D printer.

"This is the first time that virtual reality has been used with real-world environmental factors to create uniquely 3D-printed forms," said Love & Robots co-founder Emer O'Daly, who is also an architect.

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

Love & Robots encourages customers to use the technology to memorialise a significant moment in their lives, like births or anniversaries.

"So much of what we feel attached to, what we remember, is inextricably linked to a particular place and time," continued O'Daly. "We wanted to realise that in a material way by linking a particular date and place to a personalised piece of jewellery."

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

"We at Love & Robots are looking at how 3D printing will revolutionise the design and fashion industries. We look to create interactive experiential pieces where the customer is truly part of the creation process."

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

The Windswept collection uses 3D printing in two different ways, depending on which method is most suitable at the time of the order.

The first method is an additive manufacturing technique known as direct metal laser sintering, which means the piece is printed directly in gold or silver.

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

Alternatively, the pieces can be 3D printed in wax, which is then used to create a mould for casting metal.

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

The Windswept pendants can be ordered in 14 carat gold, sterling silver, or either gold- or rose-gold-plated brass, and are hand-finished at Love & Robots' studio in Dublin.

They come packaged with a note detailing who created it, as well as the date and location that generated the design.

Windswept jewellery by Love and Robots

Windswept is just one of several collections combining fashion and technology for the Dublin-based studio, which boasts that it holds no stock because everything is custom-made to order.

3D printing has recently enabled the creation of radical new forms in jewellery, like Lionel T Dean's dramatic 18 carat gold rings and Katrin Olina's gothic talismans based on variations to artist William Hogarth's "line of beauty".

"3D printing will reshape the landscape of the jewellery industry as designers get to grips with the capabilities of digital technologies and master the skills to harness them," said Dean when launching his collection.